Women's Volleyball Defeats CCSU in NEC Tournament

MOON TOWNSHIP, PA -
Freshman Ashlyn Trimble (Temecula, CA) recorded a double-double with 13 kills and 14 digs to lead the #6 seeded Sacred Heart women's volleyball team to a 3-1 (28-26, 25-20, 15-25, 25-12) win over #3 seed Central Connecticut State in the first round of the Northeast Conference Tournament Saturday afternoon. It was the third time this season SHU has defeated the Blue Devils.

After a Jessica Colberg (Long Beach, CA) service error in the opening set, Central led it 21-17. The Pioneers then ran off the next five points to take a 22-21 lead. Trimble led the surge with three straight service aces.

Despite that, Central still had a game point at 24-23 but a Maile Hetherington kill staved it off. The Blue Devils had another at 25-24 but a service error by CCSU tied the score. Leading 27-26, the Pioneers won the set on a ball handling error on a set.

The Pioneers, now 18-12, won the second game 25-20, scoring seven of the last nine points. Trimble and junior Aurora Appel (Mendham, NJ) had aces in the run.

Central bounced back to take the third set 25-15, but the Pioneers overwhelmed the Blue Devils in the fourth 25-12 to close out the match. SHU won eight straight points of Trimble serves to open up a 10-2 lead in the set and never looked back from there.

The Pioneers will now face #2 seed LIU in the semi-final match later today.